Gold revealed on Monday that he is to take up a coaching post at Bath with that now confirmed as head coach. He has opted to bring in former London Irish duo Booth and Hatley along with Ford, who he worked with at Newcastle. The quartet will work alongside Brad Davis who is the only man to survive out of this season's coaching line up at Bath with both Sir Ian McGeechan and Martin Haag departing.

Gold was part of the Springboks coaching set-up under Peter de Villiers and helped guide them to the Tri-Nations in 2009 and a victory over the British & Irish Lions the same year. He took charge of the Newcastle Falcons this term on an interim basis and whilst he was unable to prevent them from finishing at the foot of the table, he put them into contention for achieving Premiership safety after a woeful start to the campaign. Gold will now swap the Falcons for Bath and he is relishing the chance to work with the side.

"It's a very ambitious club, with a great array of talent within the squad that I'm excited to be working with," Gold said. "There is a good culture developing here, and I'm keen to help further that with my own expertise and experience."

Gold will head up the new-look coaching team with Booth expected to take charge of the forwards. The move will see Booth trading the head coach post at the Exiles for a role with the forwards at Bath and he cited the need for a new "club and challenge" as the reason behind his switch. He will be joined by Hatley, who worked at the Exiles with the academy and the first team, who looks set for the scrum coach position.

While Bath's defence has been one of the strongest in the league this term, they failed to find the same sort of attacking prowess as displayed in the past. Ford is expected to be working with the backs along with a strong focus on defence. He will be joined by current first team coach Davis, who also has a rugby league background like Ford.

Ford has been recently working with Gold at the Falcons and he boasts substantial international experience having worked on three World Cup campaigns, including England's infamous 2011 World Cup campaign.

Bath CEO Nick Blofeld has claimed that the new coaching set-up displays their ambition to return back among Europe's giants. "Gary has put together a very strong team with great experience," Blofeld said. "This also demonstrates the club's long-term commitment to being the best we can be and getting the most out of a talented squad.

"They have tremendous experience and complementary skills, especially with Brad Davis remaining as part of the coaching team."